LGBTI Member’s identity theft on Facebook

September 6, 2017 /
Pahichan Reporter

Kathmandu (pahichan) September 9 – An LGBTI Member Rukshana Kapali Pahichan Media Reporter And involved with Blue Diamond Society has been victimized of online identity theft, while her Facebook has been blocked. Rukshana Kapali is very vocal on issues of LGBTI, Newa people and Indigenous as well as ethnic groups and used online platforms like blog, specially Facebook to speak and take her activism forward. Today her profile has been reported as pretending to be someone else and has been blocked from Facebook.

“Today morning someone sent me an inbox message saying is a person called Pinky Kapali you. He sent me a link of a profile called Pinky Kapali. When I saw the profile, the profile used all my pictures, pretending to be me. I soon reported that profile and asked my friends to do the same.”, Rukshana says. Rukshana has been using online platform to spread her movement as well as online and Facebook specifically was her medium for her life to kick off as an activist.

“In the evening when I was checking that account Pinky Kapali again, to know its status, it was not visible to me. I don’t know if it was deleted or the profile blocked me, but just after a while, I got a notification of session expired on Facebook. When I checked it again, it said my Facebook has been blocked because someone reported that I am pretending to be someone else.”, she reported.

LGBTI Member Rukshana reports that her profile that she has been using as a medium of activism since a long time has been attacked and reported time and again by haters. She even initiated Save Nepa Valley Movement and Internet Strike in Nepal, through online. “They have asked my id confirmation.

I have sent it, but I don’t know what will happen next. I am admin to many pages that are initiating various movements and spreading ideas. A lot of stuffs have been documented on my Facebook and it is very important to me.”, she says.

She appeals Facebook to confirm and verify her account as soon as possible. This is not the first time LGBTI activists have faced crackdown on Facebook due to grown number of haters. LGBTI people face harassment and discrimination on online communities. #VerifyRestoreRukshana

There is not a uniform understanding among ordinary people about homosexual, transgender, inter-sex and bi-sexual people. Even the people who know about variance in this community address saying female, male and transgender. They, however, do not have proper knowledge that transgender have two categories: transgender woman and transgender man.
In this situation, it is not an easy task to inform society about their rights. Even the media and society did not have a positive attitude towards sexual and gender minority such as homosexual, transgender, inter-sex and bi-sexual people. National media had... Read more